Other than a trip which might get the odd mention I will detail projects I am working on, what I want to be working on and what I have otherwise to report on.
I will update the individual projects as they advance.
As asked I have started to catalogue the references I have follow the link on the left where you can obtain them too. Want to email me wander over to qrz.com and you'll find my email address there. Also twitter @m1kta_qrp

Got the same type of motorbike battery will have in C5... testing operation...

They sell them dry and you add electrolyte (sulphric acid)... They will then have 9.5AH charge and will run what I need for more than couple hours.

Will recharge constantly at 0.9A from Pro-peak smart recharger, using a PSU.

So in the photo.. At the back left, a PSU... actually the workbench one but doesn't matter.... output is 12V... into the Yellow (front left) smart charger (will do Pb, Li, NiMH, NiCd batteries and in all sorts of combinations, mine is the one that has small charge/discharge rates, no fan so silent), from there to the battery... I have meter in series (just to see the charge rate) and a small ebay voltage LED module across the battery. It takes about 12 hours from flat to recharge it.... I should only need it in C5 twice (not this actual battery but another like it.

I can also just shove 13.8V into the battery at 2-3 amps (got a couple limit resistors and 6 amps diodes in a set of leads already (wirewound 10W things) but that will wreak the battery, long term but will recharge in only a few hours, which I might do for the trip last day if I do not need it after. I'll give back to the place I bought it after.

If operating from the hotel mains (might be possible) then will use PSU and the recharger at same time ... It is RF quiet I know this already.

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Once the current build backlog is dealt with (K2 to finish off) I will be off to The Gambia in 12th March for BERU. Will probably activate AF-060 Bijol Island one morning or afternoon when out there (until 17th).

QTH will be the beach again near Brufu. Probably same place as I did last year....

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

The Gambia coast... about mile or so into the Atlantic.... note the typical warm/hot Gambia weather... not that day, it was cold!

I set-up literally as the boat landed so was away from the bird nesting areas. As required by the warden. Note the seaweed I was at high water mark!

Christine carried on walking as I operated...

Terns... lots of them... I think called carrot terns (beaks looks like carrots)

Pelicans.

The remains of the old lighthouse is a prize nesting site and the highest thing on the islands. Don't think I'd like to be here in rough weather though as the waves could cover this place. It is a big sand bar really.

Pelicans

Terns... and see the little baby terns too.

Sort of fluffy grey with orange legs and beaks.

Me operating photo taken from the lighthouse... note water had gone out a bit since arrived.... that is the Gambia coast in the back ground.

When I started I was almost sitting in the water... this was as dry as it got.

Operating location from a top in alps c2600m

Now this was a perfect SOTA location, I stayed on top overnight and used the flag pole to my right to support a 40m/20m dipole, you can see the fixture I connected to, the little ring clamp, as soon as the cable car stopped for the night out came the radio gear, it even snowed! If I had taken 2m yagi would have been amazing location as line of sight was > 80miles, the Eiger and Jungfau (Bernese Oberland group) are in the photo over my right shoulder. Temp dropped to below minus 15 but the morning operating the grey line was fun 100 or so QSO SSB qrp as HB9/M1KTA/P.